I’d go south – with Celts says boss Neil Lennon

NEIL LENNON’S dream is to manage Celtic in the English top tier.

Neil Lennon has expressed his desire to manage Celtic in the English Premier League [GETTY]

The Hoops boss, admitted last week that he had considered quitting Celtic Park to advance his career south of the border and is regularly high in the betting when an English job becomes available.

But, in an ideal world, Lennon’s preference would be to take on the might of the Barclays Premier League with the Bhoys.

Lennon will celebrate his fourth anniversary in charge at Parkhead next month and his stock continues to rise after guiding them to the last 16 of the Champions League as well as having secured a third successive league title.

He said: “The dream would be to go to the Premier League in England with Celtic and hopefully that can happen some time in the future. That’s not being disrespectful to the Scottish game, I’d just like to see it happen.”

Lennon maintains there are still challenges for him at Celtic and that, even if he left the club, there would be no guarantees of a job in England. He said: “Sometimes the talk of jobs down south can be a distraction but it will take a lot for me to leave the job here. It’s a huge club.

“We all have ambitions to go on. How many titles can we win? Is it six, seven, eight, nine, 10?

“The big carrot’s the Champions League. But there are other challenges and ambitions out there that eventually you want to fulfil, if you can. But there’s no guarantee of that. People are talking as if I can just walk out of Celtic and get a job in England.

“It doesn’t work that way. I think it’s become increasingly difficult with new owners coming from elsewhere who have their own ideas on the game and other people.

“You’re always trying to change the perception of other people. I’m really proud of what we’ve done here the past few years. I try not to think of my stock going up and down. It’s inevitable that you can’t stop the way people perceive you.”

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho stated last week that Celtic would improve the Premier League and Lennon agrees.

He said: “Our reputation has been enhanced in the past couple of years and people are talking about the football club in a good light again on the European scene. That augurs well.

“Mourinho has happy memories of our meetings. There was the UEFA Cup Final when he saw what the club could bring to a European environment.

“If that was to be the case in England, I’m sure they would bring the same thing.”

Asked if it would matter if Rangers joined Celtic down south, Lennon replied: “Not at all. I’m not that selfish.”